Platform-independent method and system for electronically engaging customers

ABSTRACT

Techniques for electronically engaging customers across all different platforms are disclosed. Based on unique device identifiers captured together with interactions by users with one or more applications provided by a business, a message prepared in a first format is automatically converted to a corresponding message in a second format according to what the devices the user have been interacting with can support. Depending on implementation, the message may be a response by the business to an inquiry from a user or a promotion by the business to be distributed to a group of selected users maintained by the business. The interactions include activities a user has had with one or more of the applications provided by the business and provide the statistical or actual data for the business to determine the group of users to receive the message.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to the area of computer-facilitatedcommunications over networks, and more particularly related to methodand system for electronically engaging customers for multiple businessentities. In one aspect, the present invention is a customer operationsplatform (CustomerOps platform) that captures various activities aregistered or unregistered user has interacted with a designatedcomputer application (e.g., a website with webpages, a desktop programor a mobile app) and assists the business of the designated applicationin engaging a targeted subset of users whenever there is a need. Such aCustomerOps platform also facilitates efficient and more relevant humanor automated assistance when the user desires to get engaged with thebusiness that operates the designated application.

2. Description of the Related Art

The Internet is a data communication network of interconnected computersand computer networks around the world and has been rapidly evolving tothe point where it combines elements of telecommunications, computing,broadcasting, publishing, commerce, and information services into arevolutionary new business infrastructure. The economy on the Internetis growing in every aspect of life, from buying small items (e.g.,stationary) to big items (e.g., vehicles and houses) to trading stocksand ordering services, all via the Internet.

Many traditional businesses, such as local restaurants and clinics, arenow all operating online, hoping to grow their businesses by attractingmore people to their businesses. Some businesses operate not only in alocale but also is expanding virtually everywhere in the world via theInternet. For a business to increase its profitability, gain its marketshare, deliver what its customers want and retain repeated customers, anefficient way to facilitate engagement with customers based on knowndata and attributes about the customer is vital to the business. Such apractice targeted at customers is referred to herein as customeroperations (a.k.a., CustomerOps).

Businesses, small or large, need CustomerOps. The success of CustomerOpsis not limited to how a customer in electronic commerce is served whenthere is a need. A CustomerOps platform, in a broad sense, is the use ofcomputer networks to improve organizational performance of a business.It involves all aspects of electronic interactions of an organizationwith its customers, the people who determine the future of theorganization. In brief, A CustomerOps platform involves the use ofinformation technology to engage, enhance communications andtransactions with all of its users, regardless of whether or not theusers are registered or unregistered.

A CustomerOps platform is difficult to design and costly to operate. Bigcompanies have the resources to engage a special team to design specialsoftware to support their own version of CustomerOps, but suchspecialized CustomerOps solutions are not transferable. That means noother business can reuse the development effort. A small business inreality would not have the resources to develop a specially-designedplatform to support their customers. They are often handicapped incustomer engagement when competing with their larger competitors on theInternet.

Accordingly, there is a need for a customer engagement platform that canbe used by a business, small or large alike, to support its ownCustomerOps. Different businesses shall have different types ofCustomerOps. Thus there is still another need for a customer engagementplatform that is generic enough to support many forms of electroniccommerce. Depending on the type of electronic commerce, ways tocommunicate with customers are different. Thus there is still anotherneed for a customer support platform that is generic enough to supportdifferent ways of communication with the customers. These variouscommunication mediums are referred to herein as channels.

Email is a popular communication tool users often use to communicatewith a business. For example, a user may want to buy a volume for aninteresting item and decide to send an email message to a seller (i.e.,a website thereof) inquiring a volume discount. Should collectedinteraction data indicate that the user has been looking up the itemextensively, a decision to offer a discount for a volume order would bejustified to quickly close the transaction.

Social networks, such as Facebook (www.facebook.com) and Twitter(www.twitter.com), are becoming prevalent platforms for many businessesto expand their presence among new or their existing users. Atraditional CustomerOps solution to support a business would lose itsadvantages when dealing with the social network data and communications,where the medium for user engagement is no longer controlled by thebusiness. Thus there is still another need for a mechanism that iscapable of capturing possible interactions of users with a businesspage/account on a social network. In addition, businesses now often havemany non-web application based presences. These include applications formobile or other hardware devices. Along with more traditional mediumslike SMS and voice, businesses have a myriad of channels that they needto juggle. The need for a CustomerOps solution that enables a businessto gather and correlate user data amongst all possible touch points andre-engage users at the right channel is a major pain point for manybusinesses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This section is for the purpose of summarizing some aspects of thepresent invention and to briefly introduce some preferred embodiments.Simplifications or omissions may be made to avoid obscuring the purposeof the section. Such simplifications or omissions are not intended tolimit the scope of the present invention.

In general, the present invention provides a method and system forelectronically engaging customers for multiple business entities.According to one aspect, the present invention is a supporting server orCustomerOps platform that provides customer operations to a plurality ofcomputer applications (e.g. websites with webpages, desktop programs andmobile apps) operated by respective businesses large or small. Variousactivities by a registered or unregistered user interacting with thecomputer applications are captured and the data stream is transported toa designated server. The stored data can be retrieved to assist thebusiness of the designated computer application (e.g. website) to engagethe user selectively whenever there is a need. Such a CustomerOpsplatform facilitates efficient and more relevant human or automatedassistance when the user interacts with the business that provides thedesignated computer application (e.g. website).

According to another aspect of the present invention, a supportingserver is configured to support multiple businesses operating in wideranges of businesses and allows a business to send in a set of annotateddata or inquiry relevant to the customers and specific to individualbusinesses. Depending on the area in which the business operates, theannotated data may include information related to subscribed services,successful transactions, expressed interests, or demanded informationfor some or all of the users who have been interacting with thebusiness. The supporting server requires no specified data structure orschema in the annotated data from any of the businesses being supportedand each such business is free to alter the annotated data format at anytime. One embodiment of the supporting server as a CustomerOps platformallows the annotated data in plain language and facilitates dataprocessing of the stored data streams in accordance with the annotateddata. The supporting server stores and indexes all of the annotated datafor later retrieval, wherein retrieval queries (“data retrieval query”)may contain arbitrary attributes and values matching specific dataprovided in the data stream for the purpose of selecting a group ofusers.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, one or morewebpages in a website for online commerce are embedded with a module.The module is activated when a user comes to visit the website. Themodule is designed to capture selected activities by the userinteracting with the website annotated with data provided by thebusiness to generate a data stream. The data stream resulting from theselected activities is transported to a designated device for storage oraccess at another time.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, thesupporting server is configured to access email messages relating to thebusiness. The email messages are parsed and contextual information aboutthe user is extracted to structured data for storage. The data ismatched with any supplied email identifiers from the annotated data sentby the business to construct a message history for the user that isconjoined with the associated data streams about that user.

Similarly, the supporting server may be configured to access dataavailable on another (second) server (e.g., a social network website) toobtain communication messages sent by users of the second server.Messages are parsed and contextual information about the user isextracted to structured data for storage. The data is matched with anysupplied secondary identifiers from the annotated data sent by thebusiness to construct a message history for the user that is conjoinedwith the associated data streams about that user.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, anapplication is provided by a business to be executed on a mobile device.The application is designed to be embedded with a module. The module canbe sent annotated data by the embedding application which it transportsto a designated server. Also, when the application is accessed the user,the module is activated to monitor how a user is interacting with theapplication. Various activities by the user with the application beingexecuted on a mobile device are captured and transported to thedesignated server, where the data from the application may be associatedwith or added into stored data archived under an identifier of the userwho has interacted with the business through its website or theapplication before. Also, the unique identifier of the user for thepurposes of sending asynchronous notifications relevant to the platformof the mobile device is transported to the designed server.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the storedcustomer data can be retrieved for view by operators of a businesssubscribing to the customer operations provided by the supporting serveror CustomerOps platform. The stored data may be filtered by matchingspecific attributes and values provided in the data stream.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, theCustomerOps platform is configured to allow an operator of a businessbeing hosted to create one or more outbound messages for a group ofusers. A message may be created based on the prior activities of thegroup of users interacting with a designated application while the groupof users is determined by the resulting set of a data retrieval query.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, theCustomerOps platform is configured to allow an operator of a businessbeing hosted to create one or more outbound messages to a specificchannel.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, theretrieved data can be processed to form necessary texts in responding toemail, questions from an automated assistant and preparing a response invoice. The necessary texts are a representation of aggregatedinformation from the stored data streams.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, theCustomerOps platform may be installed to host one business, although itis designed to host customer operations for multiple businesses at thesame time. By utilizing the capability in one embodiment of theCustomerOps platform to pull data from different sources, a businessdoes not have to develop its own version of customer operations,resulting in significant saving in operating such a platform to engageits users having various activities with the different sources.

The present invention may be implemented in software or in a combinationof software and hardware, and practiced as a system, a process, or amethod. According to one embodiment, the present invention is a methodfor providing customer engagement operations to a plurality of websites,the method comprises: receiving a data stream in a server from one ofthe websites when the one of the websites is accessed by a user, whereinat least one webpage in the one of the websites is embedded with amodule that is activated to track activities by the user interactingwith the one of the websites; archiving in a data store the data streamper an identifier of the user in reference with the one of the websites;retrieving the data stream per the identifier when there is a requestfrom a business operating the one of the websites, wherein the requestincludes at least the identifier; filtering the data stream per therequest; and reconstructing filtered data from the data stream.

According to one embodiment, the present invention is a method forproviding customer engagement operations to a plurality of computerapplications, the method comprises: receiving a data stream in a serverfrom one of the computer applications when the one of the computerapplications is accessed by a user, wherein at least one applicationinterface in the one of the computer applications is embedded with amodule that is activated to track activities by the user interactingwith the one of the computer applications; receiving a data stream in aserver from one of the computer applications when the one of thecomputer applications is accessed by a user, wherein at least oneapplication interface in the one of the computer applications isembedded with a module that is activated to track activities by the userinteracting with the one of the computer applications; archiving in adata store the data stream per an identifier of the user in referencewith the one of the computer applications; retrieving the data streamper the identifier when there is a request from a business entityproviding the one of the computer applications, wherein the requestincludes annotated data from the business entity; filtering the datastream per the request, the filtered data representing statisticmeasurement of the activities; and reconstructing filtered data from thedata stream to show how the user has interacted with the one of thecomputer applications in a session.

According to another one embodiment, the present invention is method forproviding platform-independent customer engagement, the methodcomprises: determining a group of users to receive a message, themessage including data portions in text and multimedia prepared in afirst format; retrieving at least some data capturing interactions bythe users with a plurality of applications provided by a businessentity; deriving from the data a communication channel for each of theusers; converting the message per the communication channel to a secondformat supported by one of the applications used by the each of theusers when the first format is not fully supported in the one of theapplications; and delivering the message, converted or not, from aserver via the communication channel to the one of the applications.

Subject to a business arrangement between the business and the companyoperating the server, the reconstructing of the filtered data from thedata stream may be performed differently. For example, in one case, thestatistic measurement of the activities is represented as an aggregateddata portion to be inserted in a response to the user. In another case,the filtered data is a report to the business. Further the server isconfigured to allow the business to communicate with one or moreselected users via a selected communication channel (e.g., email,messaging, social network, audio or video).

According to yet another embodiment, the present invention is a serverfor providing customer engagement operations to a plurality of computerapplications, the server comprises: a network interface to couple theserver to a data network and a storage device; a processor; a memoryspace, coupled to the processor, for storing code, wherein the code isexecuted by the processor to perform operations of: receiving a datastream in the storage device from one of the computer applications whenthe one of the computer applications is accessed by a user, wherein atleast one application interface in the one of the computer applicationsis embedded with a module that is activated to track activities by theuser interacting with the one of the computer applications; archiving ina data store the data stream per an identifier of the user in referencewith the one of the computer applications; retrieving the data streamper the identifier when there is a request from a business entityproviding the one of the computer applications, wherein the requestincludes annotated data from the business entity; filtering the datastream per the request, the filtered data representing statisticmeasurement of the activities; and reconstructing filtered data from thedata stream to show how the user has interacted with the one of thecomputer applications in a session.

Depending on implementation, the server may be a single designatedcomputing machine or a representation of a cluster of computing devices.The server may be operated by a company engaged in supporting theCustomerOps of multiple businesses or deployed to support theCustomerOps of a single business. The server may be further configuredto return various filtered data or reports to the subscribing businessesfor their communications with their own users or communicate directlywith their respective users on demand from the subscribing businesses.

One of the objects, features, and advantages of the present invention isto provide techniques for supporting a plurality of computerapplications to engage their respective users interacting with theapplications. Another one of the objects, features, and advantages ofthe present invention is to provide filtered data to allow a business tocommunicate with its users more objectively.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent upon examining the following detailed description of anembodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1A shows a basic system configuration 100 in which the presentinvention may be practiced in accordance with one embodiment thereof;

FIG. 1B shows exemplary internal construction blocks of a computingmachine in which one embodiment of the present invention may beimplemented and executed therein;

FIG. 1C shows an exemplary webpage embedded with a module and displayedon a display screen of a mobile device used by a user accessing thewebpage;

FIG. 1D shows an embodiment of an exemplary module that may be embeddedin a webpage (a website);

FIG. 2A shows a flowchart or process of capturing activities of variousinteractions with a website by a user, according to one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2B shows data streams to illustrate what is captured for threeexemplary users;

FIG. 2C shows an exemplary configuration corresponding to FIG. 1A;

FIG. 3A shows that the data streams are being transported from differentsources and stored in a designated store;

FIG. 3B shows a flowchart or process of accessing the stored data streamby a business subscribing to the CustomerOps services;

FIG. 3C shows data flows among three devices, a user computer, anoperator computer, and a server according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3D shows two examples of annotated data, each from a business or acompany at two different times;

FIG. 3E shows a set of data blocks coming from a restructuring processof the retrieved data from a CustomerOps server to compose a piece ofresponse email;

FIG. 4A shows a configuration of getting data from different resourcesregarding various interactions by a user with an online businessoperating a website;

FIG. 4B shows an exemplary interface for an operator of an onlinebusiness to engage users based on the collected activities data;

FIG. 4C shows a flowchart or process of automatically reformatting amessage per the characteristics and resolution of a device for properdelivery and display thereon;

FIG. 4D illustrates an example of sending out a promotion (message) 452per a determined channel

FIG. 5A shows a functional block diagram of a server device in which aserver module resides in a memory space and is executable by one or moreprocessors;

FIG. 5B shows an exemplary display that is provided for a systemadministrator to control the setting via a graphic interface; and

FIG. 5C shows a presentation of archived data in accordance with a setof settings (e.g., to show all exchanged texts between a registered userand an operator of a business).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention pertains to a CustomerOps platform that isdesigned to collect data related to various activities a registered orunregistered user has interacted with a computer application (forexample, a designated website or a website related to the designatedwebsite) and assist the business of the computer application (forexample, the designated website) to engage the user selectively wheneverthere is a need. The CustomerOps platform contemplated in the presentinvention facilitates an entity or a business to support businesses,small or large, for engaging their respective users (e.g., customers).By using one embodiment of the CustomerOps platform, an online businessdoes not have to develop its own version of customer operations toengage its users. There is no or little internal support needed to usesuch a platform. All interactions between a user and a website as wellas between a user and a human operator related to the website areretained within the platform.

The detailed description of the present invention is presented largelyin terms of procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, or othersymbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices. These descriptions andrepresentations are typically used by those skilled in the art to mosteffectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in theart. Numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will becomeobvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well knownmethods, procedures, components, and circuitry have not been describedin detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the presentinvention.

Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of theinvention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutuallyexclusive of other embodiments.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to likeparts throughout the several views. FIG. 1A shows a basic systemconfiguration 100 in which the present invention may be practiced inaccordance with one embodiment thereof. There are many computingmachines executing applications operated by business entities to providespecific functions that involve customer interaction, shown as threeexemplary devices 102, 104 and 106. For example, a clothing online storeallows a prospective customer to navigate its website to see all lateststyles in a particular category, choose proper sizes and colors, and askquestions before an order is probably placed via the website or theclothing online store directly.

In general, customers are one set of users as far as an application isconcerned. Depending on the functions of the application, users may havedifferent needs to interact with the application. For example, when auser goes on shopping on a website, the user is often referred to as acustomer. As another example, when a user reads books on an e-readerapplication such a user is often referred to as a reader. Withoutimplied limitations, customers or users will be used interchangeablyherein as the description herein is largely based upon the applicationspecific to a business. Those skilled in the art shall appreciate thedescription herein is equally applicable to other types of applications.The term “website” or “websites” referenced herein serve as example typeof application.

FIG. 1A further shows that there is another computing machine or servershown as 108. It is implemented with one embodiment of the presentinvention. As will be further detailed below, the server 108 isconfigured to provide a customer operations platform. To facilitate thedescription of the present invention, any of the servers 102, 104 and106 is referred to herein interchangeably as a business server or aclient machine with respect to the server 108 while the server 108 isreferred to herein as a CustomerOps server or simply a server machine.It should be noted that the naming of these machines or computingdevices 102, 104, 106 and 108 has no inherent limitations. As will beappreciated to those skilled in the art, any computing devices (e.g.,server, desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet or mobile device) canbe used as one of the computing devices 102, 104, 106 and 108 andconfigured to perform some or all of the functions contemplated in thepresent invention. In one embodiment, a commercially available servercomputer is configured to fulfill the functions provided by the server108 and enable the interactions and data flows between the server 108and any of the client machines 102, 104 and 106.

The servers 102, 104, 106 and 108 are all coupled to a data network 110(e.g., the Internet, a wired or wireless network or a combination ofwired and wireless networks).

As will be further detailed below, the server 108 may also be configuredto access data available on other servers, such as an external socialnetwork. In one embodiment, the profile of the user in the socialnetwork may also be captured to facilitate the business entity to engagewith the user in a contextual way.

FIG. 1B shows exemplary internal construction blocks of a computingmachine 118 in which one embodiment of the present invention may beimplemented and executed therein. The machine 118 may correspond to oneof the servers shown in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 1B, the machine 118includes a central processing unit (CPU) 122 interfaced to a data bus120 and a device interface 124. The CPU 122 executes certaininstructions to manage all devices and interfaces coupled to data bus120 for synchronized operations. The device interface 124 may be coupledto an external device such as another computing machine hence one ormore resources in the computing machine may be utilized. Also interfacedto the data bus 120 is a network interface 128, and a disk driveinterface 138. Optionally interfaced to the data bus 120 is a displayinterface 126, a printer interface 130, and one or more input devices140, such as touch screen, keyboard, or mouse. Generally, a compiled andlinked version or an executable version of one embodiment of the presentinvention is loaded into the storage 136 through the disk driveinterface 138, the network interface 128, the device interface 124 orother interfaces coupled to the data bus 120.

The main memory 132 such as random access memory (RAM) is alsointerfaced to the data bus 120 to provide the CPU 122 with theinstructions and access to memory storage 136 for data and otherinstructions, applications or services. In particular, when executingstored application program instructions, such as the complied and linkedversion of the present invention, the CPU 122 is caused to manipulatethe data to achieve results contemplated by the present invention. TheROM (read only memory) 134 is provided for storing invariant instructionsequences such as a basic input/output operation system (BIOS) foroperation of the display 126 and the input device 140, if there is any.In general, the machine 118 is coupled to a network and configured toprovide one or more resources to be shared with or executed by anothersystem on the network or simply as an interface to receive data andinstructions from a human being.

FIG. 1B is an example of a computing device that may be used in oneembodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that not everymodule shown in FIG. 1B would have to be in a computing device in orderto be used in one embodiment of the present invention. Depending on theconfiguration of a specific computing device, some or all of the modulesmay be used and sufficient in one embodiment of the present invention.

According to one embodiment, a server module is loaded and executed in amachine (e.g., the server 108 of FIG. 1A) to manage variouscommunications with the business servers and facilitate a businessserver (e.g., the server 102 of FIG. 1A) to capture various activitiesby a user with the application thereof, provided the business entityoperating the website or the business server has subscribed to theCustomerOps services provided by the supporting or CustomerOps server(i.e., the server 108 of FIG. 1A). From a business perspective, abusiness entity (e.g., a CustomerOps hosting company) operating theCustomerOps server is a separate company specialized in hosting customeroperations to a large number of applications being operated respectivelyby different business entities. As will be further appreciated below,there are no inherent limitations on the nature of the applications,whether an application is a website or mobile application.

According to one embodiment, one or more executable sections of anapplication (e.g. webpages in a website) subscribing to the CustomerOpsservices by the CustomerOps server 108 of FIG. 1A are embedded with oneor more executable modules, interfaces, links, or code blocks (hidden orvisible), collectively referred to as a module herein. In oneembodiment, such a module is a script or a JavaScript snippet.

In another embodiment, the module is made visible to alert a user of theunderlying monitoring action. Depending on implementation, such a modulemay be made in different graphics in connection with the content of aparticular user interface element within the application (e.g. webpageon a website). For example, a specific user interface element (e.g.,word, logo, or avatar) is shown to attract a user to activate themonitoring action, a voice signal is shown that a voice can be recorded,or a video signal is shown that a video can be captured.

According to one embodiment, when such a module is activated one way orthe other, browsing activities (e.g., movements, texts, voices orvideos) by a user on the webpage are captured. The user may be aregistered or unregistered user. The data capturing the browsingactivities is streamed back to a designated computing device or theCustomerOps server for storage or analysis if needed.

FIG. 1C shows an exemplary webpage 150 embedded with a module 152 anddisplayed on a display screen of a mobile device used by a useraccessing the webpage 150. When the webpage 150 is caused to bedisplayed on the mobile device, the embedded module is activated tostart automatically capturing how the user is navigating the webpage orthe website. For example, a user may click on a displayed item, followonto a specification thereof and stay on a webpage with quantity orprice information. FIG. 1C shows specifically that the user intends toseek an answer from the business operating the website, some or all ofthe text exchanges, after the user clicks on the module 152, will alsobe captured. When such a module is activated, a data stream is producedand transported from the website to a designated server: a numeric IPaddress or explicit DNS resolvable address.

According to another embodiment, the particular data sent to thedesignated server 108 is annotated with known data about the userspecific to the business. To support multiple businesses, the supportingcomputer is designed to require no specified data structure or schema inthe annotated data it can receive. In one embodiment, the annotated datafrom the business is simply in a plain language (e.g., English). Inanother embodiment, the annotated data from the business is structuredas a nested hash, serialized in a format such as JSON. The supportingserver stores and indexes all of the annotated data for later retrieval,wherein retrieval queries may contain arbitrary attributes and valuesmatching specific data provided in the data stream for the purpose ofselecting a group of users. FIG. 1D shows an embodiment of an exemplarymodule using JavaScript to encode annotated data to be sent to thesupporting server.

According to another embodiment, certain keys within the annotated dataor activity data by a user are specified to represent identifiers forvarious communication channels. These may include, but are not limitedto, email address, social network IDs as well as communication tokens orIDs associated with various notification platforms. In general, anidentifier is universally unique, so it is also referred to as a uniqueidentifier (UID). Similar to a social security identifier uniquelyassigned to a human being, an UID is a numeric or alphanumeric stringthat is associated with a single entity within a given system. An UIDmakes it possible to address that entity, so that it can be accessed andinteracted with correctly. An example of an UID is a unique deviceidentifier (UDID). For example, a UDID is a 40-character string assignedto certain devices from Apple including the iPhone, iPad, and iPodTouch. There are multiple advantages to having this device-specificserial, but it mainly serves as a way to document the existence of adevice and/or to track it.

Besides a network identifier for Wi-Fi applications or a serial numberto identify a device, an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI),an Integrated Circuit Card ID (ICCID), or a Mobile Equipment Identifier(MEID) is a type of identifier used in an iPhone, and Android phone, aWindows Phone, as well as other smartphone devices. One of the purposesto have such an identifier or UID, in whatever form it may be, is for anapplication or service to uniquely identify the device. According to oneembodiment, when the captured activity data by a user or the annotateddata by a subscribing business is received, an identifier embedded inthe data is recognized and determined what type of device the data iscoming from. Based on the characteristics, responding data (e.g., apromotion or an email response template) can be properly formulated.According to another embodiment, the captured data also includes displayresolutions of the device for properly displaying a formulated responseor a promoted message.

According to another embodiment, a client module implementing oneembodiment of the present invention is downloaded and installed in aclient computer from which a user is accessing a business websitesubscribing to the CustomerOps services provided by a CustomerOpsserver. In operation, whenever the website is accessed or opened in abrowser, the client module is activated to start capturing theactivities of various interactions by a user with the website. Dependingon implementation, such a client module may be downloaded as part of asystem module (e.g., an element to an operating system or a program) orupon displaying a specific webpage.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, it shows a flowchart or process 200 ofcapturing activities of various interactions with a website by a user,according to one embodiment of the present invention. Depending onimplementation, the process 200 may be implemented in software or acombination of software and hardware. The process 200 is initiated whena module embedded in one or more webpages is activated. According to oneembodiment, the module is embedded in a designated text, such as “onlinehelp”. When the text is clicked, not only is a proper message displayedaccordingly, but also the module is activated. In another embodiment,such a module may also be used to activate a client module installed inthe computer being used by the user (user computer). According to yetone embodiment, a module or script is simply embedded in a main page ofa website. When the website is accessed, the module or code is activatedto immediately track most movements, if not all, by the user across thewebsite.

At 202, it is assumed that an embedded module in a webpage is activated.The process 200 now moves to 204 to determine if a user accessing thewebpage or website is registered or unregistered. A registered user istypically a returning user. A unregistered user is considered afirst-timer or having not had an account with the website yet. Forexample, many users buying items from the Amazon website(www.amazon.com) must be registered users. A new user browsing around orhappening to be on the Amazon website could be a unregistered user tillbeing registered with the website. Thus at 204, the process 200 goes to206 when it is detected that it is a new user, where an identifier iscreated for the new user to link what is going to be captured. Dependingon implementation, the identifier could be a unique serial number (e.g.,from a network card) or a generated serial number or numeric charactersper a set of predefined rules. Likewise, at 204, the process 200 goes to208 when it is detected that it is a registered user, which typicallyhappens after the user signs into his/her account. At 208, an identifierpertaining to the account is retrieved.

In any case, an identifier is available to be associated with a datastream generated from various interactions by the user with the website.At 210, the interactions are captured while the user is navigatingaround the website. The examples of the interactions include, but maynot be limited to, where or which page the user has viewed or clicked,how long the user has stayed on a particular page, how often the user isswitching from one page to another, what particular items the user hasviewed and for how long, where the user has clicked and what texts theuser has typed. In some advanced websites where voice is supported, theinteraction may also include voices from the user and/or the website.These interactions generate a data stream per the session and aretransported at 212, often over a data network, to a designated machine(e.g., a server). At 214, the data stream is received in the designatedmachine and archived in a designated store. Unless the user switches toanother website, in which the module is deactivated, the process 200ends at 216 and will restart from 202, otherwise the process 200continues from 216 to 210 to capture the movements of the user acrossthe website.

FIG. 2B shows data streams 220 to illustrate what is captured for threeexemplary users. As these users are unregistered and do not haveassignment identifiers, a tentative identifier is generated and assignedto each event. it is now assumed that a user just arrived at a websiteof an online clothing store (e.g., www.bestdealclothing.com) sellingclothing for all seasons. It is further assumed that the website hasalready subscribed to the services provided by a CustomerOps hostingcompany (e.g., the server 108 of FIG. 1A). A module embedded in thewebsite is now activated to capture activities by the user with thewebsite. A data stream 222 is generated by the activities. The datastream 222 identified by 16253641NA shows that the user started tobrowse the main page at 13:26 (1:26 PM), then moved to a next pageindexed as Clothing at 13:40, where the user has clicked a tab calledSummer Clearance. On a webpage for the Summer Clearance, the userclicked on “Jaclyn Smith Women's Tied-Back Tankini Top” at 13:42. Theuser is also noted to have looked at a phone number, and enlarged a viewof the selected cloth and checked out the available size and color. Theuser then moved onto a next on-sale item “Envya Envya Stria BoyshortBikini”. It should be noted that the captured data is not images of thedisplay of a computer being used by the user. In one embodiment, theactivities of the user can be played back based on the data stream toshow exactly how the user has interacted with the website.

On the other end, a business operating the website has created anaccount on a social network site (e.g., Facebook) to attract potentialcustomers. It should be noted that, when a social network site isrecited, Facebook will be used for illustration purposes. Similarly,when the business's presence is recited, a Facebook Page will be usedfor illustration purposes. Those skilled in the art shall appreciate thedescription can be equally applied to other social network websites(e.g., Twitter.com) and, respectively, the sharing mechanism of suchsocial network website analogous to a Page Wall Post. Since all theusers on Facebook are registered, in one embodiment, an identifier for adata stream to capture the activities by a user to interact with thesocial network account is based on the Facebook username of the user. Asan example, a Facebook user Mike Doe is interested in the Facebook Pageof the clothing online store. Mike may have added the webpage as one ofhis favorites via the Like action.

According to one embodiment, the server 108 of FIG. 1A is configured tocapture various texts entered or shared by Facebook users coming to thePage. The data stream 224 indexed as MikeDoe21 in FIG. 2B shows that itincludes information to show where the data is from. It also shows apublished profile of the user on Facebook along with the texts enteredby the user and exchanged with another user named Helen. Because Helenand Mike are linked friends, they can exchange texts via email messages,short messages or a whiteboard. As Helen becomes aware of the webpagethrough the texts from Mike, Helen comes to visit the webpage. All textsleft by Helen on the webpage are then captured and transported inanother data stream 226 indexed as HelenWise2, where 2 is added todifferentiate from another user name Helen Wise. According to anotherembodiment, the webpage created on a social network website is embeddedwith a module to capture some or all of the activities by a userinteracting with the webpage.

Depending on implementation, application program interfaces (APIs)provided by a social network (e.g., Facebook) may be used to obtain theactivities happened on a specified webpage on the social network or asoftware module may be designed to crawl one or more designated socialnetworks to obtain discussions about a specific business. Such asoftware module, similar to a web crawling software for search engine,is a computer program that browses the social network in a methodical,automated manner or in an orderly fashion. By using name matching, imagematching, or matching previously provided social network identifiers inthe annotated data stream, relevant activities from a known user couldbe captured and associated with already captured data in a store.

One of the important features, objects and advantages in the presentinvention is to gather all captured data from different sources (e.g.,an official business website, one or more other websites/pages relatedto the official business website and text exchanges (e.g., SM or email)with the official business website and/or a designated website relatedto the official business website. FIG. 2C shows an exemplaryconfiguration 220 corresponding to FIG. 1A. It is assumed that there aremany businesses that have signed up for CustomerOps provided by theCustomerOps server 228 (corresponding to the server 108 of FIG. 1A),although only three websites 222, 224 and 226 are shown as an example.One or more webpages in the websites 222, 224 and 226 are embedded witha module (e.g., script). When any of the webpages is navigated, at leasta data stream is generated and transported to the server 228. Since awebsite can be accessed by multiple users from different locationssimultaneously, multiple data streams will be generated and all streamedto one or more designated computing machines controlled or coordinatedby the CustomerOps server 228. Depending on implementation, data streamsper website are categorized or data streams per time interval arearchived separately.

One of the benefits, advantages and objects in the present invention isto provide an efficient and dynamic customer support. Whenever a usercontacts a business after browsing its corresponding website, a responsecan be crafted based on the interactions the user has had with thewebsite. Instead of asking many questions to understand what the userdesires, a response more relevant to the need of the user or what theuser is asking can be provided by way of two-way communication, such asphone call, online chatting, online automated assistance or email. Aswill be further detailed below, the archived data streams can beretrieved and presented according to a setting. For example, a settingis to display all conversations that have happened between a namedoperator (e.g., John Smith working for the business entity operating thewebsite), and another setting is to generate a promotion message basedon all registered users who have expressed their certain level ofinterest in a product.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, it shows a configuration 300 of how asubscribing business accesses the collected data streams in a store 302for three websites A, B and C. That means each of the websites A, B andC is subscribed to the CustomerOps services provided by a CustomerOpsserver (e.g., corresponding to the server 228 of FIG. 2C). It is assumedthat a registered user named John Smith has been browsing the website Band decides to call a human operator for more information about an itemhe has been looking at. When a human operator responds to the call fromSmith, the human operator gets the registration information of Smith,assuming Smith is a registered returning customer, the computer beingused by the operator (the business computer) is then caused to send aninquiry per the registration information of Smith to the CustomerOpsserver, where a store 302 is configured to archive all the data from thewebsites being supported. The CustomerOps server is configured toprocess the stored data at 304 in responding to the inquiry from thebusiness computer to deliver the data pertaining to the interactionsSmith has had with the website so that the human operator knows whatSmith has been interested in and how and what to say in the call withSmith.

Depending on how the data streams from all the websites are stored, anexample of data processing by the CustomerOps server includes retrievingall data streams from the website B and extracting only the data streamunder the identifier related to Smith. The extracted data shall beconstructed (in the CustomerOps server or the computer being used by thehuman operator) before being displayed on a display screen 306. Anexemplary screenshot 308 is provided to illustrate what the humanoperator may see from the extracted data according to one embodiment.Besides showing what pages Smith has navigated, there may be a timestampfor each of the pages that Smith has stayed. In other words, the humanoperator now has the knowledge about the context of what the user isasking. In one embodiment, a particular item that has attracted theattention from Smith or Smith has spent a considerable time on ishighlighted or texted, the human operator knows immediately whatinterest Smith may have and what is the context of the question Smith isasking. Thus a proper response can be crafted or prepared efficiently torespond to the question.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3B shows aflowchart or process 320 of accessing the stored data stream by abusiness subscribing to the CustomerOps services. The process 320 may beimplemented in software or in a combination of both software andhardware, and starts only when there is an inquiry to access the storeddata collected from a particular computer application (e.g. a website, awebpage or a program). In operation, a CustomerOps server is configuredto support a plurality of computer applications (websites or programs).In the case of websites, the websites are generating data streamswhenever one or more webpages thereof are being visited. In reference toFIG. 3A, it shows that the data streams are stored in a designatedstore. When a user visiting the website B decides to contact thebusiness operating the website B by way of two-way communication (e.g.,email, call or online chatting with a human operator or an automatedassistant), an inquiry is generated per a requirement and sent to theCustomerOps server to retrieve data pertaining to the user. An exemplaryrequirement includes, but may not be limited to, all texts exchangedwith a specified user, on a specified social network website, or allemails exchanged with all users that have interacted with a specifiedwebsite. Consequently, an efficient or more relevant answer response maybe generated or prepared for the user based on the filtered data.

Accordingly, at 322, the process 320 determines if such an inquiry hasbeen received. When an inquiry is received at 322, the process 320 goesto 324 to determine if the corresponding data is available per anidentifier of the user or per the requirement. In one case, the user isa prospective customer, thus the generated identifier for the user forthe particular session is looked up to ensure that there is dataavailable for the identifier. From time to time, a new user may come toa website and decide to contact the business without even browsing anyof the webpages, in which case there would be no any identifierassociated with the user, thus the process 320 goes from 324 back to322. In responding to a question from such a user, the response can bestructured in a way specifically for a new user, hoping to get the useronto the website and eventually to enter a transaction. In another case,the user is a registered returning customer and the identifier isobtained from the corresponding account for the user.

In any case, once an identifier per the inquiry is confirmed, theprocess 320 goes to 326 to retrieve the data from the store. Asdescribed above, depending on how the data streams from all the datastreams are stored, there are many ways to retrieve a particular dataset pertaining to the identifier in reference to a setting. As describedabove, one embodiment of the present invention allows annotated data tobe received in any form from the business. Depending on a businessarrangement between the subscribing business and the CustomerOpssupporting company, such annotated data may be processed differently orthe particular data set may be generated differently in accordance withthe annotated data. According to one embodiment, the particular data setis a set of statistic measurement for the activities of a user or agroup of users. The statistic measurement may indicate where and howoften the user has interacted with the website in a period of time,and/or where and how often the user has interacted with an applicationdistributed by the business. In view of the annotated data, thestatistic measurement may be carried out to include a royalty indicator(e.g., how often a purchase is made, or a return is requested, if anyrecent interactions with the business after an event).

In any case, the retrieved data is processed at 328 with or without theannotated data to reproduce the processed data in a predefinedstructure. In one embodiment, the data is structured in the CustomerOpsserver according to a predefined set of rules. The structured data isthen transported at 330 to a designated computing device being used torespond to the question from the user. In another embodiment, thecomputing device is installed with a module provided by a businessentity in providing such CustomerOps to other businesses for theironline commerce, in which case the retrieved data per the identifier ofthe user is first transported at 330 to the computing device. The modulein the computing device is then activated to process and reproduce thedata according to a predefined set of rules.

Depending on how the inquiry is generated, there are different ways torespond to the inquiry. As described above, there are often cases inwhich a user calls directly a business hosting the website, in whichcase a human operator shall respond to the call. Based on the extracteddata from the interactions by the user with the website and thecollected annotated data, the human operator is very well prepared torespond to the call in view of what the user has been doing on thewebsite from the retrieved data, or in conjunction with possible priorinteractions if the user is a registered returning user.

Some advanced websites now offer an online virtual assistant or onlineautomated assistant that is a program using artificial intelligence toprovide customer service or other assistance on a website. Such anassistant may basically consist of a dialog system, an avatar, as wellan expert system to provide specific expertise to the user. An automatedonline assistant has the ability to provide customer services 24 hours aday and 7 days a week, and may, at least, be a complement to customerservices by humans. A major underlying technology to such as assistantis natural language processing (NLP) that is a field of computerscience, artificial intelligence, and linguistics concerned with theinteractions between computers and human (natural) languages. As such,NLP is related to the area of human-computer interaction. Manychallenges in NLP involve natural language understanding—that is,enabling computers to derive meaning from human or natural languageinput.

The main function of the dialog system of automated online assistants isto translate the human-generated input into a digital format that theautomated online assistant can use for further processing, as well asinterpret whatever solutions or replies it generates back to what ahuman user understands, and optimally in a way as natural anduser-friendly as possible. However, such a dialog system has not been soadvanced as desired, and is not helpful and even confusing a user inmany cases. Most of the answers are pre-prepared in sentences andassembled on the fly, thus they are not tailored to a specificsituation. One of the advantages, benefits and objectives in the presentinvention is to provide a dynamic online automated assistant thatprovides relevant responses in view of the activities the user has hadin current session or prior session(s).

According to one embodiment of the present invention, one webpage in awebsite provides a module (e.g., an automated online assistant in textor voice) that may be activated by a user while browsing the website. Inoperation, the module brings up an interface to facilitate two-waycommunication (e.g., email, chatting or voice). Depending onimplementation, the module may bring up a dialog box for the user totype in a question or a voice sign to receive a voice from the user.

In any case, the two-way interface allows a user to produce a questionfor a business to answer. In reference to FIG. 3B, the question leads toan inquiry to a CustomerOps server (i.e. supporting computer). Accordingto one embodiment, the inquiry includes, but may not be limited to,information about a domain name of the website or a web IP address, aset of annotated data is supplied by the business or generated per anoperator of the business. To support multiple businesses, the supportingcomputer is designed to require no specified data structure or schema inthe annotated data it can receive. In one embodiment, the annotated datafrom the business is simply in a plain language (e.g., English).

FIG. 3D shows two examples of annotated data, each from a business or acompany at two different times. The example 352 shows a first set ofannotated data 353 prepared by an online business that needs to checkout all activities after the user John Smith has purchased 10 items fromthe business. Later on in another event to further refine the retrieveddata or to query another set of data, the annotated data is prepared asshown in 354, where it indicates the same user except for all activitiesafter 10 purchases and 1 return. Similarly, the example 356 shows afirst set of annotated data 357 prepared by a service business thatneeds to check out all activities with the customer John Smith choosinga basic plan. Later on in another event to further refine the retrieveddata or to query another set of data, the annotated data is prepared asshown in 358 to retrieve activities after the user has earned 100credits.

In responding to the inquiry, the CustomerOps server retrieves data forthe current session and/or one or more previous sessions in accordanceof the annotated data. In any case, the computing device (user computer)being used by the user is caused to send out a question to the website(operator computer) as shown in FIG. 3C. As described above, dependingon the status of the user (e.g., registered or unregistered), an inquirypertaining to the question is generated and sent to the CustomerOpsserver, where corresponding data per the identifier of the user isretrieved. If it is a registered user, there is likely additional datafrom previous session(s) that user had interacted with the website.

After the data is extracted, depending on implementation, at 334 thedata may be processed in the CustomerOps computer or in the operatorcomputer to create a context around the question. A response is thengenerated from the context to be sent to the user computer, where theuser may see the text or hear the voice to his/her question. The aspectof how to generate such a response is ignored herein to avoid obscuringaspects of the present invention as the embodiment of the presentinvention is related to how to facilitate to generate a more meaningfulresponse based on the initial question in conjunction with the contextfrom the current session and possible previous session(s). Siri fromApple is one example of online automated assistants.

Reference 336 of FIG. 3B indicates another embodiment in which a userhas sent an email message to a business for question. As will be furtherunderstood below, one embodiment of the present invention can facilitatethe response to the email more relevant to the question, whether it isautomated or done by a human. Referring now to FIG. 3E, it shows a setof data blocks 362 coming from a restructuring process of the retrieveddata from the CustomerOps server. The data set 362 includes one datablock 364 representative of the email content from the user. Otherblocks may represent the interactions the user had had with the websitein a session. When a reply to the email is prepared, a copy of the emailcontent is automatically reproduced in the reply so that the user knowswhat this replay email is meant. In other words, a process is initiatedwhen data for the context is received in one embodiment of the presentinvention. The process is configured to filter out other data (tracking)and take only what the user has typed in the email inquiry. As a result,the reply email from the business looks like a commonly seen format inan email reply.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4A shows aconfiguration 400 of getting data from different resources regardingvarious interactions by a user with an online business operating awebsite 402. As described above, activities by the user interacting withthe website can be captured, and the data thereof can be transported toa designated server 404. To expand their presences among connected userson a social network, many businesses create a webpage, such aswww.facebook.com/amazon created by Amazon and related to www.amazon.com.FIG. 4A shows that a webpage 406 is created on a social network website.The webpage 406 allows users who visit the business page to writecomments directly thereon or write comments in their own webpages. Evenbetter, connected contacts of these users may follow the comments tovisit the business page, thus creating more potential for the company.

According to one embodiment, an application module (not shown) isdesigned using application programming interfaces (APIs) provided by thesocial network website and configured to fetch selected data on thebusiness page. At certain point of time or periodically, the server 404is caused to execute the module that goes to the business page to fetchthe selected data. According to one embodiment, the fetched dataincludes a profile of a user who has visited the business page. Manyregistered users of a social network publish their own profiles so thatothers know whether these are the ones to be connected. By getting someor all of a profile under a user, the server 404 may be configured toassociate the data with an already stored data stream created by thesame user so that the business may better understand the user.

According to another embodiment, the business page in a social networkis embedded with a code or module that, once activated, follows the userto get more data of the user regarding his activities about thebusiness. For example, instead of making any comments about a pair ofshoes on the business page advertising various fashion shoes, the usergoes onto his own whiteboard to write about what he saw in the businesspage, or text changing with another connected contact. These texts leftby the user or exchanged texts may be obtained and transported with hisprofile to the server 404, where the data is associated or added to thestored data stream indexed by an identifier related to this user.

In any case, a user may exchange email with the business. Since manyemail tools generate reply email automatically embedded with texts inprevious email, capturing a copy of the email would be sufficient tounderstand what subjects the user has discussed with the business.According to one embodiment, an application module is designed based onSimple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). The application module (not shown)is configured to obtain a copy of the email 408 being exchanged betweenthe user and the business, and causes the server to store the dataseparately or associate the data with or add the data to the stored datastream indexed by an identifier related to this user. Similarly, a usermay use an online chatting tool to chat with the business. A similarimplementation may be done to obtain a copy of the exchanged texts forseparate storage or the stored data stream indexed by an identifierrelated to this user.

The module embedded in a webpage may not be activated in some devices.For example, a java-script code may not be activated when an iPad isused to access the webpage. To capture the activities by the userinteracting with the webpage or the website, the user may be requestedto download an application or module that may be activated to capturethe activities taking place on a device 410 that does not support theembedded module. According to one embodiment of the present invention,the module (not shown) is configured to transport the data stream ordata capturing the activities to the designated server 404, where thedata is separately stored under an identifier related to this user orassociated with the stored data stream indexed by an identifier relatedto this user.

Many businesses distribute specified applications to be used on mobiledevices. For example, Amazon.com distributes its own application forusers to browse its listed goods on a mobile device (e.g., iPhone ortablet). According to one embodiment, a business distributes anapplication to allow users to interface electronically with thebusiness, where the application is embedded with a code that capturesactivities by the user when interacting with the business. For example,the activities include a movement from one tab to another tab, andfurther navigation into detailed information on a page after clickingonto a tab. The data representing the activities is transported to adesignated device whenever the mobile device has a preferable datacommunication means (e.g., LTE, Wi-Fi or 3G).

As an application of the stored data, FIG. 4A also shows that the server404 can be configured to respond to the user or send a promotion messageto all registered users. According to one embodiment, the server 404 isconfigured to send a message to a user via a last known device or a mostlikely used device. As described above, a user may interact with awebsite using different means (e.g., direct access from a personalcomputer, indirect access to a webpage on a social network, email orchatting from an email/chatting tool, or even using a device notsupporting a module embedded in a webpage). When there is a need toengage with the user, for example, to send a promotion specificallydesigned based on the past activities of the user, a decision can bemade as to which of the means may be appropriate to send such apromotion. The archived data is analyzed to see which means the user hasused the most.

In another embodiment, a manual selection is used. FIG. 4B shows anexemplary interface 420 for an operator of an online business having awebsite. After the operator is logged into the server 404, a set ofavailable channels 422 is displayed to allow the operator to choose anappropriate one to send out a message (e.g., a promotion). Depending onwhere the business has gathered the data for all of its users, therecould be many different channels. Without implying any limitations, theset of available channels 422 shows a few exemplary channels including acombination of two of the examples, where an in-app means criteriamatching. That means a promotion is popped out or activated when certaincriteria is matched.

For example, the business can set up an “In-App” message from the server404 for a certain segment of users (e.g., any users who have recentlybought more than 3 household items). When such a user hits a webpage,the website or is logged onto a social network, the user is identifiedas matching a particular segment. When this happens, the user is sentthe promotion via a selected channel (e.g., Email, In-App, Facebook, andTwitter). Further, the operator may decide which recipients shallreceive the promotion, as a result, the promotion may only be sent to orappear on a corresponding means.

According to one embodiment, appropriate channels to send messages(e.g., promotions) are determined automatically. As described above, aunique identifier of a device is extracted from the data received fromthe device. For example, data capturing the interactions by a user withan application running on a tablet (e.g., iPad) includes a unique(device) ID of the tablet, the server configured to receive the data isfurther configured to determine from the device ID what type of thedevice it is, perhaps in reference to a database. Thus when a message isprepared for distribution to users that have been selected among others,the message is automatically formatted for each of the users accordingto the corresponding device and its display resolution for properdelivery and display on the device. Similarly, when an ID indicates thata user has been active with a business that maintains a webpage on asocial network (e.g., Facebook), a promotion message shall be formattedfor proper display on the webpage so that the user may continue tointeract with.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4C shows aflowchart or process 430 of automatically reformatting a message per thecharacteristics and resolution of a device for proper delivery anddisplay thereon. Depending on implementation, the process 430 may beimplemented in software or a combination of software and hardware. Theprocess 430 is initiated when a business desires to communicate with aregistered or potential user. There may be several reasons that abusiness may want to communicate with its registered users or potentialusers. Among all of the reasons, an important one is to send a promotionmessage to a group of selected users who may be interested in thepromotion based upon their captured activities. Another one is torespond to a question from a user, where a proposed answer ispre-prepared.

It is assumed that a business desires to send out a promotion to a groupof users. The promotion is prepared at 432 in a first format, e.g., inHTML. The promotion may include static texts, tables, applications,hyperlinks, clickable items, graphics and/or multimedia content.However, not all terminal devices are configured to support such apromotion. For example, a promotion includes a video clip that requiresa Flash plug-in to playback the video clip. The Safari browser in AppleiPad does not support the Flash plug-in, thus the video clip may not beplayed back in the Safari browser when the Safari browser is used toaccess the promotion.

At 434, a group of users are determined based on their activitiespertaining to the promotion and possible ways of communication. At 436,corresponding data per each of the users is selectively retrieved todetermine what types of communication channels a selected user has usedin a previous session or has used the most at 438. Based on thedetermined channel and device resolution, the promotion prepared in thefirst format is reformatted at 440 as needed.

FIG. 4D illustrates an example 450 of sending out a promotion (message)452 per a determined channel. The message 452 is initially prepared in afirst format that includes but may not be limited to HTML or XML.Besides texts and other graphics (not shown), the message 452 includes avideo clip 454 and another type of multimedia 456. When the determinedchannel is a post or displayed on a business webpage in a social networkand it is assumed that the webpage shall be viewed in a browser (e.g.,Google Chrome), the message 452 will be sent as is, the message is notactually reformatted at 440. When the determined channel is to bedisplayed in an application running in a portable device based on, forexample, Google Android or iOS, the message 452 will be reformatted at440 as the video clip 454 or the multimedia 456 may not be supported.

According to one embodiment, the video clip 454 not supported isreplaced by a message or converted video 458 being supported. In a casethat the video clip 454 is replaced by a message, a viewer is referredto a different mechanism (e.g., another website supporting the originalvideo clip 454 or a correspondingly converted video clip) to continuethe proper presentation of the video clip 454. The description of how toconvert the content from one format to another is not provided herein toavoid obscuring the important aspects of the present invention. Thoseskilled in the art shall appreciate that there are many tools that areavailable to convert one type of video to another type or one multimediafile to another corresponding multimedia file. One of the advantages,benefits and objectives in the present invention is to ensure that amessage, regardless how it is prepared and what format it is in, aproper mechanism is provided to ensure that the content in the messageis presented properly on a selected channel.

Referring back to FIG. 4C, once the message is properly converted, theprocess 430 goes to 442 to deliver the message to a user according tothe determined channel. For example, when it is determined that a userhas communicated with the business via email on a particular product orservice, the message pertaining to the product/service is automaticallyrouted to an email server, where the message is sent to the user basedon an email address of the user on file. Likewise, if the capturedactivities and resolution data is from a registered user, the messagemay be sent out via the registered email address or an application thatthe user has been active with lately (i.e., interacting with theapplication). Similarly, the message may be simply posted on a businesswebpage in a social network where sufficient data related to variousinteractions by users with the webpage is captured.

Referring now to FIG. 5A, there is shown a functional block diagram of aserver device 500 in which a server module 502 resides in a memory space503 and is executable by one or more processors 501. Depending onimplementation, this server may be a single server or a cluster of twoor more servers. One embodiment of the present invention is implementedas cloud computing in which there are multiple computers or serversdeployed to serve as many businesses (websites) as practically possible.For illustration purpose, a representative of a single server device 500is shown and may correspond to the server 108 in FIG. 1A. The serverdevice 500 includes a network interface 504 to facilitate thecommunication between the server device 500 and other devices on anetwork and a storage space 505. The server module 502 is an executableversion of one embodiment of the present invention and delivers, whenexecuted, some or all of the features/results contemplated in thepresent invention.

According to one embodiment, the server module 502 comprises anadministration interface 506, an account manager 508, a client manager510, a security manager 512, a message manager 514, a setting manager516, a data processing module 518.

Administration Interface 506:

As the name suggests, the administration interface 506 facilitates asystem administrator to register a business entity subscribing to fullcustomer operations provided by the server 500 and grant respectiveaccess privileges to the authorized operators of the business entity.The administration interface 506 is an entry point to the server modulefrom which all sub-modules or the results thereof can be initiated,updated and managed. For example, a business A operating a websitesubscribes to the services and authorizes its operators A1 and A2 toaccess the data collected by the server, where the data is uniquelyidentified (e.g., the business name or the domain name of the website).Likewise, another business B operating a website subscribes to theservices and authorizes its operators B1, B2 and B3 to access the datacollected by the server, where the data is uniquely identified and onlyavailable to the business B. Depending on a business arrangement withthe server 500 or a level of the supports being subscribed, theoperators of the businesses A and B appear to log into a similar serverbut access different data sets stored and reconstructing levels. Forexample, the stored data may be retrieved at a certain level (e.g., fora latest session versus for prior sessions), a reconstructing levelcontrols what contexts can be generated for email response, an automatedassistant or a voice response (voice-to-text or text-to-voice).

In one embodiment, an operator sets up and manages one or more of thefollowing processes:

-   -   Instant messaging (IM) with a user;    -   Whiteboard/message exchanging;    -   Email;    -   Voice-to-text and Text-to-voice;    -   Online automated assistant; and    -   Permission-based remote screen capture to take a snapshot of a        display a user is looking at.        Account Manager 508:

The account manager 508 is provided to control who can access the storedata. As indicated above, a subscribing business may authorize a numberof operators or account managers to access the stored data indexed forthe business. The account manager 508 provides a mechanism to controlthe access. In addition, the account manager 508 is designed to controlhow the data is accessed in accordance with a setting.

Client Manager 510

The client manager 510 is provided to manage the subscribing businesses.In operation, the client manager 510 controls whether a data stream froma subscribing website shall be archived and how to archive it in a datastore. For example, a website is being managed to monitor the activitiesof users coming to the website, a corresponding webpage is created on asocial network. Thus the client manager 510 is configured to send out amodule to retrieve data left by registered users from the webpage on thesocial network and determine how to associate the data with alreadystored data for the business.

Security Manage 512

This module is configured to provide security when needed. The storeddata for each of the subscribing businesses or companies may beencrypted thus only authorized user may access the secured data. In somesituations, an encryption key to a secured file is securely maintainedand may be retrieved by a system administrator to access a secureddocument in case there is a need. In one embodiment, the security manage512 is configured to initiate a secure communication session when itdetects that a registered user accesses a file remotely over an opennetwork.

Message Manager 514

The message manager 514 is a tool provided to an operator to generate amessage to be sent to a user or a group of users. Based on stored dataand an appropriate retrieval query, a promotion may be formed for aspecified user, a set of users and all users who have had interactionswith the business. FIG. 4B is an example to show that the tool allowsthe operator to determine what channel to deliver the promotion and whoto receive the promotion. In operation, the access to the messagemanager 514 allows a business subscribing to the services provided bythe server 500 to communicate with users, for example, to sendpromotions through a specified channel. Depending on implementation, amessage (e.g., promotion or something else) can be sent generically toall of the users on a specified channel or formed individually and sentto an individual channel via an appropriate channel based on theactivities the user has performed.

Setting or Rules Manager 516:

This module is primarily used to configure various rules imposed acrossthe system to control communications between the server 500 and a clientmachine. For example, certain rules are provided to certain websitesthat may capture displays of computing devices accessing the websiteswithout asking for any permission. This module is also provided tocontrol how a stored data stream is retrieved and processed. Forexample, when in composing a reply message, a set of parameters could beset up so that the stored data stream is processed to retrieve onlytexts related to email exchange between a user and a business. FIG. 5Bshows an exemplary display that is provided for a system administratorto control the setting. FIG. 5C shows a presentation of archived data inaccordance with a set of settings (e.g., to show all exchanged textsbetween a registered user and an operator of a business).

Data Processing 518:

This module is configured to work with the setting manager 516 toperform data operations per a request from an operator. Whenever thereis a request from an operator to access the stored data, this moduleshall be initiated and get the parameters from the setting manager 516pertaining to the request to process the stored data and present thedata in a way preferred by the operator.

The invention is preferably implemented in software, but can also beimplemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software. Theinvention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computerreadable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage devicethat can store data which can thereafter be read by a computer system.Examples of the computer readable medium include read-only memory,random-access memory, CD-ROMs, DVDs, magnetic tape, optical data storagedevices, and carrier waves. The computer readable medium can also bedistributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computerreadable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

The present invention has been described in sufficient details with acertain degree of particularity. It is understood to those skilled inthe art that the present disclosure of embodiments has been made by wayof examples only and that numerous changes in the arrangement andcombination of parts may be resorted without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as claimed. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent invention is defined by the appended claims rather than theforegoing description of embodiments.

We claim:
 1. A method for providing platform-independent customerengagement, the method comprising: determining a group of users by aserver to receive a message related to a subject, wherein the group ofusers are determined based on interests derived from respectiveactivities, and the message includes data portions in text andmultimedia prepared in a first format; retrieving at least historicaldata capturing interactions by the users with a plurality ofapplications provided by a business entity, wherein the historical datapertains to the respective activities by the users with at least one ofthe applications running on devices respectively associated with theusers over a period of time and is stored in a store coupled with theserver; deriving from the historical data a communication channel foreach of the users, wherein the historical data further includes a uniqueidentifier (UID) of the communication channel, and the activitiesinclude how long the each of the users was interacting with the one ofthe applications, and wherein said deriving from the historical data acommunication channel for each of the users comprises: determining fromthe historical data what type of a device the each of the users has usedby extracting the UID from the historical data and looking the UID up ina database to determine the communication channel for the device; anddetermining which one of the applications the each of the users hasinteracted with; converting the message per the communication channel toa second format supported by one of the applications used by the each ofthe users when the first format is not fully supported in the one of theapplications; and delivering the message, converted or not, from theserver via the communication channel to the device the each of the usershas used.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the applicationsinclude a webpage to be accessed in a browser, a program running in adevice, an email or instant messaging application for communication withothers, and an automated assistant.
 3. The method as recited in claim 2,wherein the communication channel is by email, by messaging, or byposting a webpage or a mobile device notification.
 4. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the activities include message exchangingbetween the one of the users and an operator sponsoring the one of theapplications.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprisingdetermining whether the data portions in text and multimedia prepared inthe first format are fully supported in the communication channel. 6.The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said deriving from thehistorical data a communication channel for each of the users furthercomprises: extracting characteristics of a display used to show the oneof the applications, wherein the characteristics includes a displayresolution.
 7. A server configured to provide platform-independentcustomer engagement, the server comprising: a processor; a memory space,coupled to the processor, for storing code to be executed by theprocessor to perform operations of: determining a group of users toreceive a message related to a subject, wherein the group of users aredetermined based on interests derived from respective activities, andthe message include data portions in text and multimedia prepared in afirst format; retrieving at least some of historical data capturinginteractions by the users with a plurality of applications provided by abusiness entity, wherein the historical data pertains to the respectiveactivities by the users with at least one of the applications running ondevices respectively associated with the users over a period of time andis stored in a store coupled with the server; deriving from thehistorical data a communication channel for each of the users, whereinthe historical data further includes a unique identifier (UID) of thecommunication channel, and the activities include how long the each ofthe users was interacting with the one of the applications, and whereinsaid deriving from the historical data a communication channel for eachof the users comprises: determining from the historical data what typeof a device the each of the users has used by extracting the UID fromthe historical data and looking the UID up in a database to determinethe communication channel for the device; and determining from the datawhich one of the applications the each of the users has interacted with;converting the message per the communication channel to a second formatsupported by one of the applications used by the each of the users whenthe first format is not fully supported in the one of the applications;and delivering the message, converted or not, via the communicationchannel to the device the each of the users has used.
 8. The server asrecited in claim 7, wherein the applications include a webpage to beaccessed in a browser, a program running in a device, an email orinstant messaging application for communication with others, and anautomated assistant.
 9. The server as recited in claim 8, wherein thecommunication channel is by email, by messaging, or by posting a webpageor a mobile device notification.
 10. The server as recited in claim 7,wherein the activities include message exchanging between the one of theusers and an operator sponsoring the one of the applications.
 11. Theserver as recited in claim 7, wherein the server is configured todetermine whether the data portions in text and multimedia prepared inthe first format are fully supported in the communication channel. 12.The server as recited in claim 7, wherein said deriving from thehistorical data a communication channel for each of the users furthercomprises: extracting characteristics of a display used to show one ofthe applications, wherein the characteristics includes a displayresolution.